Starting means for electric apparatus



T. A. BARRETT.

STARTING MEANS FOR ELECTRIC APPARATUS.

APPHCATlON FILED MAR. 17, I917- Pa-tented May 11, 1920.

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,4 0mv5y TTED STATES P THOMAS A. BARRETT, 0F ENGLEWOOD, NEW? JERSEY,ASSIGIN'OIR T0 COOIPER HEWITT ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF HOBQKEN, NEW ACORPOR-ATIGN OF NEW JERSEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 11, 1920.

Application filed March 17, 1917. Serial No. 155.43%.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS A. BARRETT, a citizen of the United States,and resident of Englewood, county of Bergen, State of New Jersey, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Starting Means forElectric Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

One broad method widely used in commercial work for starting mercuryvapor apparatus is the use of a high potential and a starting band forovercoming the starting reluctance of the apparatus. This is normallyvery satisfactory in those commercial types of the apparatus Where theauxiliaries, comprising the starting resistance, the series resistance,the inductance and the shifter, are mounted in close proximity to theapparatus to be started into operation.

However, in those cases in the commercial application of the apparatuswhere it is not possible, or desirable, to mount the auxiliary startingand operating devices in close proximity thereto, the starting of theapparatus into operation is not so satisfactory. It seems to be a factthat, in such cases, the high potential of the inductance coil which isdischarged into the line is dissipated or absorbed before it reaches theterminals of the gas or vapor apparatus and consequently the apparatusdoes not start up. This absorption or dissipation of the acceleratedpotential, or kick, as it is commonly called in. the art, may be due toelectrostatic capacity action, or insulation leakage, or mutualinduction in the line.

In those installations where the apparatus is remotely mounted from itsauxiliary devices and at varying distances, ranging from, say, (10) tenfeet to (100) one hundred feet or more, I have found that when aninductance coil is inserted in the line in close proximity to theapparatus requiring to be started into operation, the kick from theinductance in the remote auxiliary is transmitted to the apparatus andthe apparatus started into operation.

I have illustrated my invention in the accompanying drawing which showsdiagrammatically the general arrangement of the circuit connections andof the auxiliary devices used in the starting and operation of a mercuryvapor lamp, for example.

In the drawings I have shown such a lamp consisting of a tube orcontainer, 1,

provided at one end with a positive electrode, 2, of iron, and acathode, 8, of mercury, or other suitable material, at the opposite end,said electrodes being connected to line wires i and 5, which in turn areconnected to a source of current (not shown). The usual starting band,located on the out side of the tube in proximity to the cathode, isshown at 6 and is connected by a wire, '2', with the leading-inconductor of the positive electrode 2.

A series resistance, 8, is inserted in the positive main 4: and aninduction coil 9, is inserted in the negative main 5. Across the mains land 5 is connected a circuit containing a starting resistance 10 and amake and break device, 11, known in the art as a shifter. In the lineleading to the nega tive electrode 3 of the gas or vapor device and inclose proximity thereto is an induction coil 12 having an iron core 13.T he line wires 4t and 5 are shown broken at 4 and 5 and it will beunderstood that the length of these two wires between the points wherethe starting resistance and the shifter are connected in and theterminals of the lamp may be any distance, ranging from a few feet up toone hundred feet or more, according to the conditions under which the devices may be installed, and may conveniently take the form of a cable.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows. The current is applied tothe mains T and 5 and a starting circuit is completed through the seriesresistance 8, the starting resistance 10, the shifter 11, and theinductance 9. The core of the inductance coil 9 bein ma netized b theflow of current therethrough attracts armature mounted on the shifter 11and causes the shifter to break the starting circuit at that point,whereupon the high potential stored in the inductance 9 is dischargedthrough the cable et -5 to the terminals of the vapor device 1, theinductance coil 12 by virtue of its wellknown action augmenting thedischarge of the remote inductance 9, when it tends to decay, andthereby causing to be applied to the terminals 2 and 3 of the lamp 1 apotential hi 'h enough to break down the starting reluctance of theapparatus and cause it to start into operation.

It is difiicult to state with certainty the electrical operation of theabove-described apparatus, but it may well be that the dis charge of theremote inductance coil 9 provides a high potential to start currentoscil lating in the resonant circuit including the starting band 6, thecathode 3, the inductance coil 12, and the shifter 11. Due to the wellknown phenomenon of rise of potential across a condenser in a resonantcircuit there is developed between the starting band and the cathode ofthe lamp a sufliciently high potential to start ionization or electricalconduction in the lamp.

I have shown the inductance 12 and its iron core connected in closeproximity to an electrode of the vapor device 1, but it will beunderstood that I do not limit myself to the particular location of thecoil as it may be inserted at any point in the line remote from the coil9 and where it is found that the high potential discharge of said coil 9tends to decay. The coil 12, however, has been found to performsatisfactorily in the position illustrated in the drawing in those:ommercial outfits where the length of the cable is in the neighborhoodof one hundred feet.

In the foregoing I have described my invention in connection with thestarting into operation of a mercury vapor lamp, but it will beunderstood that my invention is not limited to this particular kind ofdevice, as the "invention is equally applicable to any kind of vacuum,gas, or vapor, or any kind of translating device depending upon thismethod of starting.

While I have shown the inductance coils 12 and 9 connected in thenegative side of the circuit, these devices may be inserted in thepositive main without departing from the spirit of my invention, as willbe readily understood by those skilled in the art.

I claim as my invention:

1. The method of starting an electric zip-- paratus requiring a highpotential to start it into operation, which consists in breaking acircuit across the terminals of said device and at a point remotetherefrom to cause the generation in the line of said device of apotential higher than the normal operating potential of the device, andaugmenting said high potential at an intermediate point between thesource of high potential and the device.

2. The combination with a translating device and means for supplyingelectric current thereto, of means for breaking a circuit across theterminals of said device and at a point remote therefrom to cause a highpotential in the circuit of the translating device, and means also insaid circuit for augmenting said high potential.

3. The combination with a translating device and a source of electriccurrent for supplying the same, of means for breaking a circuit acrossthe terminals of said device and at a point remote therefrom, therebygenerating a high potential in the circuit of the translating device,and means for augmenting the said high potential.

4;. The combination with a translating device and a source of electriccurrent for operating the same, means for breaking a circuit across theterminals of said device and at a point remote therefrom, therebygenerating and discharging into the circuit of the translating device atone point a high potential, and means at another point in said circuitfor augmenting said high potential.

The combination with an electric device requiring a high potential tostart it into operation and means for supplying electric currentthereto, of means in circuit with the device for breaking a circuitacross the terminals of said device and at a point remote therefrom,thereby creating and discharging into said circuit a high potential, andmeans for preventing the dissipation of said high potential in the line.

(5. The combination with a translating device and a source of electricsupply therefor of means for breaking a circuit across the terminals ofsaid device and at a point remote therefrom, thereby generating a highpotential in the circuit leading to the translating device, and meansfor augmenting said high potential whereby the translating device isstarted into operation.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,this 16th day of March, A. D. 1917.

THOMAS A. BARRETT.

Witness Tnos. H. BROWN.

